Kima Ventures, the fund started by prominent French tech entrepreneurs Jérémie Berrebi and Xavier Niel, along with angel investors Fabrice Grinda, Jose Marin, and Alexander Aivazov, have teamed up to invest in Martmania, an online marketplace focused on trading “interesting and unusual things.”
The details of the deal have not been disclosed, but a source with knowledge of the matter told East-West Digital News that the investment amounted to “hundreds of thousand dollars.”
A Novosibirsk, Siberia-based startup, Martmania says it is “following in the footsteps of Bonanza and Etsy in the US and DaWanda in Europe.” It works with hundreds of online shops as well as with with manufacturers directly, charging a 10% commission fee on each order and delivering items nationwide.
Less than one year after inception, Martmania claims to display more than 8,500 items, from ninja boots to USB vacuum cleaners. The average order value reaches 2,000 rubles, approximately $65.
Among thousands of unusual items, these ninja boots will be made on demand by Moscow supplier Ninja Shoes within two weeks.
The Siberian startup has been supported by TexDrive, a Western-style accelerator founded in Moscow in late 2011.
“We were attracted to Martmania not only by high potential of the Russian e-commerce market in this segment, but also by its tested and successful business model,” said Berrebi, whose fund also has a stake in DaWanda.
Last year, Kima Ventures and Grinda also invested in MallStreet.ru, a Moscow-based online retailer with a diversified assortment of products.
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